Continuous railway-rail.



A. BOURRASSA.

GONTINUOUS RAILWAY RAIL.

APPLIOATION FILED 001212, 1911.

ALEXANDER BOURRASSA, OF CHICAGO HEIGHTS, ILLINOIS.

CONTINUOUS RAILWAY-RAIL.

Loc-soia Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed October 12, 1911.

Patented June 10, 1913. sei-iai No. 654,212.

To fdl fir/ofnif/'f' may concern Be it known that I, Annxinvonn Boni:- imssi, a citizen of the United States, and a resit'lent of the town of Chicago Heights, in the county of Cook and State of illinois, have invented certain new and useful Tmprovements in Continuous Railwaydtails; and I do hereby declare that the following is a fall, clear, and exact description of the saine, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the numbers of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this speciticatitm.

Mach injnry is occasioned to the rolling stock of railroads owing' to the difficulty, if notr impossibility, in affording a continuo-us and unvarying bearing surface at the joints. Although very many attempts have been made to afford a continuous rail joint, or to afford a structure adapted to reinforce the joint between the rails to afford a con` tinuous and comparatively unyielding surface, nevertheless practically all the rail joints prove deficient in substantially the saine way, that is to say, the rollingl stock passing over the rail and supported upon a small bearing surface at the wheels, causes a depression at the joint so that the adjacent rail ends move np and down as each wheel passes the same, soon brooming up the ties, even though protected by wear plates, permitting more or less play, which rapidly increases with time. rlhis unquestionably is seriously aggravated by the flat spots upon the wheel, which, as the wheel revolves. strike the rails a succession of practically hammer blows, soon loosening the nuts at the rail joints and putting the track in an unsatisfactory, if not dangerous condition.

rlhe object of this invention is to afford a practically continuous rail in which the carrying surface is not broken at the joints, and by .means of which noise and Vibration largely eliminated.

It is also an object of the invention to a'lford a construction adapting itself readily to the installation of electrical circuits and affording means to adequately protect the saine from moisture and frost.

It is an important object of the invent-ion to maintain a considerable degree of resiliency while affording a continuous tread surface for the rails for long distances.

The invention in its preferred form is hereinafter more fully described.

In the drawings: Figure l is a top plan view, broken away, of a device embodying' my invention. l, `ig. 2 is a side elevation thereof. Fig. 3 is a sect-ion on line of Fig. lg. Llis an enlarged longitinlinal section taken through the webs of the ails in a line with the splice bolts. Fig. 5 is an enlarged transverse section taken through the rail adjacent one of the intermediate splice bolts.

As shown in the drawings: The rails are rolled in half sections, comprising a half head member 1, a web member 2, and a [lange 3, and having a plane inner face at the head and adjacent the flange and being concave longitut'linally for the entire length thereof on the inner side the web.

t, indicates the splice bar or plate, which is shaped transversely to .tit closely in thc cavity or channel between the webs, as shown i n liig. 3, and is provided in one side with a longitudinal groove or recess 5, to receive electrical conductors or lead wires (i, if desired.

4t indicates the external flat splice bar with rounded edges adapted to tit snugly against the web between the head and flange on that side of the rail eon'ibination at which the end junction of two half rails occurs.

lVith the half rail sections so constructed, the rail as a whole `is built up in continuons form for any desired length by rigidly bolting the half rail sections together to bring the abutting ends of the half rail sec tions on one side the rail together at approximately the middle of the half rail sections forming the other side of the rail and rigidly securing the splice bar Lt, therebetween by means of splice bolts 7, of the usual or any desired construction, and which conveniently are provided with any suitable means such as a washer S, or other means for locking the nuts of the splice bolts 7, in place, it being observed by reference to Fig. `lthat the internal splice bars 4t and the cX- ternal splice bars 4t are of equal length, and are disposed in register with each other.

lre'terably, at the time the half rail sections are brought together in assembled relation, those portions ot the channel between the webs not occupied by the splice bars It are poured full, of asphalt t), or other snitable non-conducting and insulating means, which, investing the contflncting wires therein, holds the saine spaced from contact with the webs or head of the rail insuring satisfactory insulation and what is also iinportant, eectually protecting the same from moisture, inasmuch as such asphaltic filling forms a cementin surface between the bearing faces of the rail sections, for example, between the head sections and the flange sections. Ot' course, intermediate bolts l0, are provided through the webs intermediate the splice bars to rigidly hold the rail sections together as a unitary structure, and as shown, also, a clamp or chair comprising a flat plate or bar ll, to extend beneath the rail at the abutting ends of corresponding sections, is provided with upwardly turned flanges or hooks l2, to engage on the oppositely disposed flanges of the rail to rigidly clamp. the same in unvarying relation.

If desired, wear plates (sometimes termed tie plates may be provided on each tie, constructed as before described to eitectually` clamp the rail sections together. These may be constructed, of course, of any suitn able length and when engaged in place, add materially to the strength of the construction and yet permit suiiicient resiliency to afford a rail exceedingly easy upon rolling stock, as well as noiseless under practically all conditions of traiiic.

I have shown but one (and that the preerred) form of my construction, although I am aware that numerous details of construction may be varied without departing from the principles of my invention. I therefore do not purpose limiting the patent to be granted on this application otherwise than necessitated by the prior art.

I claim as my invention:

A continuous railway rail constructed in half sections lapped together face to face with the oints on one side of the rail dis- 40 posed intermediate the joints on the other side-.of said rail, splice bars disposed in channels afforded between the webs at each joint, said bars each having a wire receiving groove therein abutting the inner face of 45 one of said halt' rail sections only, a tlling of non-conducting material in said channels betweenk the splice bars adapted to invest a wire, and splice bolts rigidly engaging the parts together as an unitary and continuous structure and disposed outside of said wire receiving grooves.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ALEXANDER BoUERAssA.

Witnesses:

CHARLES W. I-IILLs, J r., GEORGE It. MOORE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

` Washington, D. C. 

